Vol. 19: #9 • Basketball Greats • (2-26-2023) Tidbits of Coachella Valley

Swish! This week, Tidbits heads to the court to check out some of the facts about the great players of the sport of professional basketball. Whether you're an avid fan of the game or not, we think you’ll find it interesting to learn about the backgrounds of these legendary sports figures, and how they earned their claim to fame.

• Although you don't know him by this name today, Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. was born in 1947, weighing in at 12 lbs, 11 oz. By age nine, he was already 5’ 8” tall, and when he reached 8th grade, he stood 6’ 8”. He finally topped out at 7’2”.

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. on a New York City basketball court, in the 1960s.

• Alcindor attended a parochial high school in New York City, where he set a record for most points scored. His college career began in 1965 at UCLA, where he scored a record 56 points in his first game. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1st round of the NBA draft in 1969, and was named Rookie of the Year for the 1969-70 season. Having converted to Islam, Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar in 1971.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar, as an LA Laker, shooting his iconic hook shot.

• Jabbar was traded to the L.A. Lakers in 1975, winning five NBA championships there. His salary in 1984 was $1,530,000, but had more than doubled by the close of his career. His estimated NBA earnings are $8,560,000.

• After 20 seasons in the NBA, Jabbar retired in 1989 as the highest-scoring player of all time with 38,387 points. He’d been voted NBA’s MVP six times and played a record 57,446 minutes. In addition to appearing in a few movies, he has authored 17 books. Several health problems have plagued him, including severe migraines, a leukemia diagnosis in 2008, and quadruple bypass surgery in 2015.

• LeBron Raymone James Sr. was born in 1984 and grew up playing basketball for St. VincentSt. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. He was quickly recognized as an outstanding player and was scouted by professional teams who eyed him as a future NBA superstar. And they were right. Among numerous other achievements in his stellar career to date, he has won four NBA championships and competed in ten NBA Finals, each with MVP awards, and has won two Olympic Gold Medals.

LeBron James laughs with a referee during his high school basketball days.

• Most recently as a star with the Los Angeles Lakers, and amid a huge celebration by players, fans and the media alike, LeBron overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s longstanding record as the NBA's all-time leading scorer by sinking his 38,389th point in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. With still years yet to go in his professional career, many believe he is certain to break the 40,000 point mark.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar passing the title of NBA's all-time leading scorer to LeBron James, on Feb. 7, 2023

• Larry Bird was known as “the hick from French Lick,” referring to his hometown of French Lick, Indiana. His childhood was not an easy one, as his mother worked two jobs to help support the family’s six children. There were plenty of family problems in the Bird home, including poverty, which motivated Larry’s determination to succeed. He escaped from the troubles, which included his parents’ divorce and his father’s subsequent suicide, by playing basketball, becoming his high school’s all-time leading scorer.

Larry Bird as a high school basketball player.

• The Indiana Hoosiers offered Bird a basketball scholarship in 1974, but he dropped out after a month, finding the large campus and huge number of students too overwhelming after life in a friendlier, slower paced small town. He enrolled in a small college near home for a year, then transferred to Indiana State University in 1975.

• Two years later, the 6 ft. 9” Bird was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in NBA’s 1978 draft, but chose to stay in college, graduating with a B.S. in Physical education in 1979. He then signed a five-year, $3.25 million contract with the Celtics, the highestpaid rookie at that time. His entire 13-year pro career, 1,061 games, was spent with this team, securing five NBA finals appearances, and three championships. In a 1985 game vs the Atlanta Hawks, he scored his personal best of 60 points.

The "Dream Team," USA's 1992 Gold Medal winning basketball team.

• Bird was a member of the 1992 Olympic basketball “Dream Team,” the first time that NBA players were sent to compete in the Games, games that earned the team the gold medal. He retired in 1992, following back surgery to remove a troublesome spinal disc. He was a coach for the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000.

• Can you name the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 cumulative points? It was the 7’1” tall “Wilt the Stilt” Chamberlain, the Kansas Jayhawk alumnus, who joined the Philadelphia Warriors in 1959. Because the NBA did not accept players who had not completed college, Wilt played a year as a Harlem Globetrotter after leaving the University of Kansas in 1958, before joining the Warrior team. He still holds several records, including the most points scored in a season, with 4,029 in the 1962 season, an average of 50.4 points per game.

Wilt Chamberlain played one season as a Harlem Globetrotter, in 1958.

• That was also the year he became the first and only player to score 100 points in a game. In all, Chamberlain holds 72 NBA records. He moved with the Warriors to San Francisco in 1962, was traded to the Philadelphia 76’ers in 1964, then to the Lakers in 1968. He retired in 1973 after playing in 1,045 games, did some coaching for a year with an ABA team, then moved into business and filmmaking. Chamberlain passed away in 1999 at age 63.

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks, on March 2, 1962.

• Scotty Pippen started his NBA career with the Chicago Bulls in 1987 and ended with the Bulls in 2004. But in between, he also played one season with the Houston Rockets and four with the Portland Trail Blazers. He made the postseason 16 consecutive years.

Scotty Pippen wearing #33 as a Chicago Bull.

• In 2008, at age 42, he had a brief comeback to pro ball, playing a few games for two Scandinavian teams. In 1992, Pippen and Michael Jordan were the first players to win an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.

Scotty Pippen and Michael Jordan celebrate, after the "Dream Team" won the 1992 Gold Medal.

• He left LSU in 1992 after being drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick. He was Rookie of the Year that season, leading the team to the NBA Finals. Over his 19-year career, Shaq played for six teams. Can you name them?

• After four years with Orlando, he moved to the L.A. Lakers, and three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. From there it was on to the Miami Heat in 2004 and his fourth NBA championship. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns in 2008, then to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2009-2010 season, and retired with the Celtics in 2011. He played 1,207 regular season games and 216 post-season games, 15 of which were All-Star games. He was an Olympic gold medalist in 1996.

Shaquille O'Neal stands tall after a big victory for the Orlando Magic.

• Off the court, O’Neal began to compose rap music, releasing five studio albums, including a platinum certification for his 1993 debut album. He continues to produce electronic music, touring under his stage name, DIESEL. He’s also had a successful movie, television, and video game career, as well as professional wrestling. His net worth is estimated at $400 million.

Shaq entertains a crowd, under his stage name, "DIESEL."

• Kobe Bryant spent his entire 20-year career with the L.A. Lakers, winning five NBA championships, an 18-time All-Star, and the all-time leading scorer in the team’s history. His career-high game was in 2006, scoring 81 points. He added two Olympic gold medals to his achievements in 2008 and 2012. He had an unusual feat for a basketball player in 2018, when he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his work “Dear Basketball.” Sadly, Kobe’s remarkable career was abruptly ended as the world mourned his untimely death in 2020 along with his 13-yearold daughter in a helicopter crash. □